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{{Short description|The Dagda's harp in Celtic mythology}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
In [[Irish mythology]], '''Uaithne''' ({{langx|sga|Úaithne}}, {{IPA|ga|ˈuənʲə|pron}}) is [[Dagda]]'s harp, or rather the Dagda's [[harpist|harper]], according to a number of modern translators (cf. {{section link||Attestations}}).{{Refn|The eDIL under Úaithne(7) gives "The name of the Dagda's harp" (based on TBFr.),<ref name="eDIL-uaithne5">eDIL s.v. "{{URL|1=https://dil.ie/42694 |2=7 úaithne}}"</ref> but this conflicts with its etnry under ''cruitt'' "harper" (citing ''Fraech'').<ref name="eDIL-cruitt">eDIL s.v. "{{URL|1=https://dil.ie/13253 |2=1 cruitt}}". "harper", example from ''Fraech'': "Úaithne c.¤ in Dagdai"</ref>}}

==Attestations==
Úaithne figures as the name of Dagda's harper captured by the [[Fomorians]] according to the narrative ''[[Cath Maige Tuired]]'' ("Second Battle of Mag Tuired").<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-stokes1891"/><ref name="CMT-ed&tr-gray1982"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Lady Gregory (1910) had "Uaitne" as Dagda's harp, which had two other names.<ref name="gregory1910"/> But O'Curry's lecture (1873) wrote Uaithne as "the Daghda's harper" in the main text, but "..is the ''cruit'' or harp, of the Dagdha" occurs in the margin.<ref name="ocurry"/>}} After this battle, Dagda discovered his harp hanging on a wall, in a feasting-house wherein [[Bres]] and his father [[Elathan]] were also. The harp had two names, {{lang|sga|Daur Dá Bláo}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|var. {{lang|sga|Daurdabla, Durdabla}}<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-stokes1891"/>}} ("Oak of Two Meadows"<ref name="CMT-notes-gray1982"/>{{Refn|A.C.L. Brown: "oak of two fields";<ref name="brown1966"/> Stokes: "Oak of two greens[?]".<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-stokes1891"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Lady Gregory gave "the Oak of Two Blossoms".<ref name="gregory1910"/>}}) and {{lang|sga|Cóir Cetharchair}} ("Four-Angled Music"{{Refn|A.C.L. Brown and Stokes: "four-angled music";<ref name="brown1966"/><ref name="CMT-ed&tr-stokes1891"/> Lady Gregory:"the Four Angled Music"}} or perhaps rather "Four-sided Rectitude"{{Refn|Gray analyzed into ''cóir'' adj. 'proper, fitting, just, true' used as noun + ''Cetharchair'' 'four-sided, square, rectangular';<ref name="CMT-notes-gray1982"/>}}{{Refn|name="ocurry-coir"|O'Curry's Lecture explained ''coir'' to mean "arrangement, adjustment", but when applied to the instrument, meant "proper tuning or harmonizing of harp".<ref name="ocurry"/>}}). On this harp, the Dagda bound the music so that it would not sound until he would call to it by its names. After he called to it, it sprang from the wall of its own accord, came to the Dagda, and killed nine men on its way.<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-gray1982"/><ref name="brown1966"/>

According to the {{interlanguage link|Táin Bó Fraích|ga|lt=''Táin Bó Fraích''}} ("The Cattle-Raid of Fraech"), Úaithne, the Dagda's harper, had three sons by the [[Boann|Bóand]] of the ''[[fairies|síthe]]'', and the three sons became harpers themselves, each being named after Úaithne's musical strain, i.e., Goltraige ("weeping-strain"), Gentraige ("laughing-strain") and Súantraige ("sleeping-strain").{{Refn|Text: Meid ed.<ref name="TBF-ed-meid"/> or Crowe ed.;<ref name="TBF-ed&tr-crowe1879"/> Translations: Crowe (1870)<ref name="TBF-ed-meid"/> and Leahy (1906)<ref name="TBF-tr-leahy"/> interpret Úaithne as "harp", but Crowe admits the possibility of "harper".{{sfnp|Crowe|1870|loc=n13, p. 162}} Gantz (1981) gives "Úaithne, the Dagdae's harper".<ref name="TBF-tr-gantz"/>}}{{Refn|The "-s" are dropped from Meid ed. "Goltraiges & Gentraiges & Súantraiges".<ref name="TBF-ed-meid"/> as according to commentaries.<ref name="budgey2002"/> Gantz renders as "Goltrade, Gentrade and Súantrade".<ref name="TBF-tr-gantz"/> Crowe's endnote gives "Sorrow-strain", "Joy-strain" and "Sleep-strain".{{sfnp|Crowe|1870|loc=n13, p. 162}} }}

The ''TBF'' narrative further explains: "The time the woman (Bóand) was at the bearing of children it had a cry of sorrow with the soreness of the pangs at first: it was smile and joy it played in the middle for the pleasure of bringing forth the two sons: it was a sleep of soothingness played the last son, on account of the heaviness of the birth, so that it is from him that the third of the music has been named".{{Refn|Mary Jone's version,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/fraech.html|title=maryjones.us|website=www.maryjones.us|access-date=2016-11-30}}</ref> unchanged from Leahy's translation, in turn revised from Crowe's.<ref name="TBF-ed&tr-crowe1879"/> Using Gantz's translation is cumbersome as it skips the phrase concerning {{lang|sga|lámnad}} "act of giving birth, parturition" occurring here.<ref name="eDIL-lamnad">eDIL s.v. "{{URL|1=https://dil.ie/29533 |2=lámnad}}". With example from ''TBFr,'': "in tan bóe in ben oc l.¤"</ref> }}

==Etymology==
Úaithne presumably means "Childbirth".{{sfnp|Crowe|1870|loc=n13, p. 162}}

Úaithne is glossed as "Orpheus" in the Irish Glossaries.<ref name="eDIL-uaithne5"/> The word has multiple meanings beside Dagda's harp.<ref name="eDIL-uaithne5"/>

Úaithne can also mean "concord in music"<ref name="eDIL-uaithne5">eDIL s.v. "{{URL|1=https://dil.ie/42694 |2=7 úaithne}}"</ref> and Philippe Jouët endorses the interpretation that Dagda's harp indeed means "concordance" or "harmoniousness", which would be consistent with interpreting the byname {{lang|sga|Cóir Cetharchair}} as "quadrangular harmony".<ref name="jouet2007"/> Jouët also notes that since Uaithne (Uaitniu) could mean "wood", "work", "pillar" or "harmony", those different meanings could be the consequence of successive metaphors.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jouët |first=Philippe |author-link=<!--Philippe Jouët--> |title=Dictionnaire de la mythologie et de la religion celtiques |trans-title=Dictionary of Celtic mythology and religion |location= |publisher=Yoran Embanner |year=2012  |url= |page=|isbn=<!--2914855923, -->9782914855921 |language=fr}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2021}}

==In popular culture ==
"An Uaithne" is also the original name of Irish choir [[Anúna]].<ref>[http://www.anuna.ie/anuna-biography/ http://www.anuna.ie/anuna-biography/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120091713/http://www.anuna.ie/anuna-biography/ |date=2015-11-20 }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=October 2021}}

Appears in the [[Symphogear]] anime series as a relic owned by Carol Malus Dienheim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.symphogear-gx.com/keywords/key33.php|title=ダウルダブラ|trans-title=Daur da Bláo|language=ja}}</ref>

==Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="brown1966">{{cite book|last=Brown |first=Arthur Charles Lewis |author-link=Arthur Charles Lewis Brown |title=Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland |location=New York |publisher=Russell & Russell |year=1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBI_AAAAIAAJ&q=oak |pages=233–234, 229, 368}}</ref>

<ref name="budgey2002">{{cite book|last=Budgey |first=Andrea |author-link=<!--Andrea Budgey--> |chapter=8. Commeationis et affinitatis gratia: Medieval Musical Relations between Scotland and Ireland |editor-last=McDonald |editor-first=Russell Andrew |editor-link=<!--Russell Andrew McDonald--> |title=History, Literature, and Music in Scotland, 700-1560 |location= |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wMfF_uudAAC&pg=PA226  |pages=226<!--208–232--> |isbn=<!--0802036015, -->9780802036018}}</ref>

<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-gray1982">{{citation|editor-last=Gray |editor-first=Elizabeth A. |editor-link=<!--Elizabeth A. Gray--> |editor-mask=Gray, Elizabeth A. ed. tr. |others=Proof corrections by Benjamin Hazard |title=Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |publisher=CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts|year=2003 |orig-year=1982 |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/ |at={{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/text164.html|2=§163}}–{{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300010/text165.html|2=§164}}, p. 70}}; {{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/ |2=English translation}}: {{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/text165.html|2=§163}}–{{URL|1=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T300010/text166.html|2=§164}}, p. 71</ref>

<ref name="CMT-ed&tr-stokes1891">{{citation|editor-last=Stokes |editor-first=Whitley |editor-link=Whitley Stokes (Celtic scholar) |editor-mask=Stokes, Whitley ed. tr. |title=The Second Battle of Moytura |journal=Revue Celtique |volume=12 |year=1891 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDO6N4cfeMsC&pg=PA109|at=§§163/164, pp. 108, 109<!--pp. 52–130, et corrigienda, pp. 306–8-->}}</ref>

<ref name="CMT-notes-gray1982">{{cite book|editor-last=Gray |editor-first=Elizabeth A. |editor-link=<!--Elizabeth A. Gray--> |editor-mask=Gray, Elizabeth A. ed. tr. |title=Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired |publisher=Irish Texts Society |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjzYAAAAMAAJ&q=Oak|at=notes to §163, p. 113}}</ref>

<ref name="gregory1910">{{cite book|last=Gregory |first=Lady |author-link=Lady Gregory |title=Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m69KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA60 |page=60}}</ref>

<ref name="TBF-ed&tr-crowe1879">{{cite journal|last=Crowe |first=J. O'Beirne |author-link=<!--J. O'Beirne Crowe--> |title=Táin Bó Fraich |trans-title=The Spoil of the Cows of Froech |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Irish MSS. series |volume=1, pt. 1 |number= |date=1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4QNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA141 |at=Irish, pp. 140, 142; English tr. pp. 141, 143<!--134–171--> |doi= |jstor=20706388}}</ref>

<ref name="TBF-ed-meid">{{citation|editor-last=Meid |editor-first=Wolfgang |editor-link=:de:Wolfgang Meid |others=Electronic edition compiled by Beatrix Färber |title=Táin Bó Fraích |publisher=CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts |year=2010 |orig-year=<!--Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies-->1967 |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G301006/ |at=§10, p. 4}}</ref>

<ref name="TBF-tr-gantz">{{cite book|translator-last=Gantz |translator-first=Jeffrey |translator-link=<!--Jeffrey Gantz-->|chapter=Cattle Raid of Fróech |title=Early Irish Myths and Sagas |publisher=Penguin UK |year=1981 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PBTTE6KtOHUC&pg=PT113 |at= |isbn=<!--0141934816, -->9780141934815}}</ref>

<ref name="TBF-tr-leahy">{{cite book|translator-last=Leahy |translator-first=Arthur Herbert |translator-link=<!--Arthur Herbert Leahy-->|chapter=Tain Bo Fraich |title=Heroic Romances of Ireland |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=David Nutt |year=1906 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t31HAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA22 |page=22<!--1–67-->}}</ref>

<ref name="jouet2007">{{cite book|last=Jouët |first=Philippe |author-link=<!--Philippe Jouët--> |title=L'aurore celtique dans la mythologie, l'épopée et les traditions |location= |publisher=Yoran Embanner |year=2007  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBgRAQAAIAAJ&q=%C3%9Aaithne |page=394 |isbn=<!--2914855338, -->9782914855334 |language=fr}}</ref>

<ref name="ocurry">{{cite book|last=O'Curry |first=Eugene |author-link=Eugene O'Curry |editor-last=Sullivan |editor-first=William Kirby |editor-link=William Kirby Sullivan |title=On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish |volume=3 |location=London |publisher=Williams and Norgate |year=1873 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKgMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA211 |pages=213–214}}</ref>
}}

{{Celtic mythology (Mythological)}}

[[Category:Tuatha Dé Danann]]
[[Category:Irish harpists]]
[[Category:Mythological musical instruments]]


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